418 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



the Indians themselves. Even physically he resembled them in his tall stature, 

 robust frame, swarthy complexion, strongly-marked features, coarse black hair. 

 His life in the saddle had made him bandy-legged with feet turned inward, and 

 a heavy rolling gait when walking. Like his Araucanian foe, the GaucJio feared 

 no danger, possessed prodigious power of endurance, and was careless of life. 

 He de?pised manual labour, leaving it mostly to the women, and, if he occasion- 

 ally consented to lend a hand it was done with a haughty, contemptuous air, " such 

 as becomies a gentleman." He even trained his horse to do his work, to tread 

 out the corn, knead the potters' clay, churn the butter. 



Of sordid habits, and housing in wretched hovels, the Graucho was nevertheless 

 vain of his finery, guanaco wool mantle, embroidered pantaloons, silver spurs, 

 plumed hat. No less splendidly comparisoned was his horse, whose affection he 

 never gained, and w^hom he was ready at any moment to stake on a throw of 

 the dice. Cock-fighting, racing, pothouse orgies, wars, and bloodshed, such 

 were his ruling passions. Hence, in the struggle for existence, the Gaucho has 

 0"radually been outstripped. As he got the better of the Indian, he has in his 

 turn been suppLnted by the gringo, that is, the foreign immigrant supposed to 

 speak " griego " (Greek). The last genuine Gauchos were the Llanistas oi La 

 Rioia, at first retainers of two lordly families, then during the civil wars grouped 

 round the truculent chief, Facuudo Quiroga, with their dreaded banner : 

 " Religion or Death ! " _ 



A gloomy picture is drawn by those who knew them best of the domestic and 

 social' relations of the Argentine Gauchos. "It may be said that among the 

 unlovely homes of the peasantry of most countries none perhaps is more dreary or 

 repulsive than that of the Gaucho — if home it can be properly called, having, in 

 most cases, for its basis an illicit union with a poor creature devoid of all feminine 

 charm or grace, and steeped in utter ignorance and slovenliness. The typical 

 Gaucho woman, in fact, has little of her sex beyond her untid}' garments and 

 sharp tongue ; and but for the powers of endurance, which enable her on occasion 

 to vie with the men in tlie hardest work, such as sheep-shearing or cattle -driving, 

 and a certain rough fidelity that makes her stick to the chance partner 

 with whom, after many a previous experience, she has finally mated for good, 

 she has no redeeming qualities. Of things above these she has neither know- 

 lerlge nor instinct, and it is no wonder, therefore, if her companion is driven 

 from her cheerless society b}' sheer ciiiiKi to seek a solace elsewhere in drink and 

 debauchery. 



" It is difficult to say who is to come to the rescue of these hot-blooded, 

 untutored men, who, for all their vices, attract sympathy by their fearless 

 bearing and a certain native dignity and courtesy. The priest has never had 

 any hold on their dark heathenish homes, for the pure G.uicho has but the 

 faintest tinge of Christianity, his religion being made up of childish and 

 degrading superstitions, mainly derived from Indian sources. The schoolmaster 

 80 far has hardly reached him, and he has yet to be redeemed if he is to be 

 worked up into u useful element in the new fabric of civilisation that is growing 



